/Collection
  • Title: A CONRAD | MEMORIAL LIBRARY | THE COLLECTION OF | GEORGE T. KEATING | {Conrad's portrait in a circle} | 1929 | Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. | Garden City, New York || Pagination: [2] – blanks, [i-vi] vii-xvi, [1-2] 3-448 [449-450], [2] – blanks, [2] – justification (501 copies printed, 425 for sale, this is № 365), verso blank, plus frontispiece – a colour portrait of sitting Mr Conrad from the painting by Walter Tittle with lettered tissue guard; the total number of pages 472; 304 items recordered and described. Binding: 27 x 19.5 cm, bevelled boards, blue cloth, white embossed head portrait of Conrad pasted to front board, spine sunned to green-yellowish, paper label with lettering to spine, top edge gilt, other untrimmed, printed on laid paper; in a black buckram slipcase with a green label to spine. Contributors: Joseph Conrad [Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski] (British-Polish, 1857 – 1924) George Thomas Keating (American, 1892 – 1976) – author Printer: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company Richard Robert Donnelley (American, 1838 – 1899) Publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co. Frank Nelson Doubleday (American, 1862 – 1934) George Henry Doran (American, 1869 – 1956) Tittle, Walter (American, 1883 – 1966) – artist (portrait)
  • Title page: {vignette} | The | MANIAC | ILLUSTRATED BY G. CHRISTOPHER HUDSON | NEW YORK   BOOKS FOR THE FEW   MCMXLI || Pagination: [1-6] 7-245 [246], full-page plates and in-text vignettes after Mahlon Blaine drawings. Edition: Limited edition of 1050 copies, this one unnumbered. Text – a reprint of the 1909 edition by Rebman (London); 1st edition, thus. Binding: 24 x 16 cm, black moire cloth, green label with black lettering “THE | MANIAC” to spine. Ink stamp “Charles M. Collins, Jr” to front pastedown. Contributors: E. Thelmar (British, fl. c. 1909) – author; a British journalist, who had been committed to an asylum in 1905; nothing else is known. G. Christopher Hudson [Mahlon Blaine] (American, 1894 – 1969) – artist. Books for the Few (NY) – publisher. Ref: TAYLOR, NICK. “Mahlon Blaine, John Steinbeck, and ‘The Maniac’ (1941).” The Steinbeck Review 9, no. 1 (2012): 73–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41582924.
  • 12 hand-coloured soft-ground etchings by André Collot, unbound, in a paper folder with pink lettering and vignette engraved on wood, with a title-page in black: JEUNESSE | 12 VERNIS MOUS COLORIÉS | tires à exemplaires | réservés aux Amis de l’Artiste | 1933 ||, in a frame. Edition: 1st edition, limited to 60 copies. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel 1920-70: 1786.
  • Title-page: APOLOGIA | DEL S. TORQVATO | TASSO. | IN DIFESA DELLA SVA | GIERVSALEMME | LIBERATA. | Con alcune Opere, partien in accusa, | partein difesa dell Orlando Furioso | dell’Ariosto. | Della Gierusalem- | me istessa , e dell’Amadigi | del Tasso Padre. | I titoli tutti si leggono nella feguente | facciata. | con privilegi. | {publisher’s device} | In Mantoua, Per Francesco Osana. | M D LXXXV. || 1st blank π1, [a]-a8; (9 leaves, 18 pp., unpaginated) Divisional t.p. (1): DE GLI | ACCADEMICI | DELLA CRVSCA | DIFESA DELL’ ORLANDO | FVRIOSO DELL’ ARIOSTO | Contra’l Dialogo dell’Epica | poesia di Camillo | Pellegrino. | Stacciata prima. | {woodcut} ||; A-E12 [2]A1 (61 leaves, 122 pp., unpaginated). Divisional t.p. (2): APOLOGIA | DEL S. TORQVATO | TASSO. | IN DIFESA DELLA SVA | GIERVSALEMME | LIBERATA. | {publisher’s device} | IN MANTOVA, |—| Per Francesco Osanna. | MDLXXXV. || [2]A11 2B-[2]I12 [2]K4, pp. [2] 3-219 [3] (111 leaves, 222 pages). Divisional t.p. (3): DELL’ | INFARINATO | ACADEMICO | DELLA CRVSCA … etc. | MDLXXXV. | Con licenza de’ Superiori. || [3]A-[3]G12, pp. [2] 3-164, 163 (i.e. 165) [3] (84 leaves, 168 pages). Divisional t.p. (4): RIPOSTA | DEL S. TORQVATO | TASSO, | ALLA LETTERA | DI BASTIAN ROSSI, …etc. | MDLXXXV. | Con licenza de’ Superiori. || [4]A-[4]E12 F8, ([4]B3 i.e. [4]A3), pp. [2] 3-135 [1] (68 leaves, 136 pages). Divisional t.p. (5): DISCORSO | IN TORNO | A’CONTRASTI, | CHE SI FANNO | SOPRA… ect. | M D LXXXVI. || [5]A-[5]D12 E4, pp. [2]3-67, 66 (i.e. 68), 92 (69), 70-73 (70-73), 94 (74), 95 (75), 76, 77, 98-115 (78-95), 112 (96), 97-100, [4] (52 leaves, 104 pages). Divisional t.p. (6): PARERE | DEL SIGNOR | TORQVATO | TASSO. | SOPRA IL DISCORSO | del Signor Horatio Lom- | bardello intorno a’ | contrasti,&c. … etc. | M D LXXXVI. || [6]A12 [6]B6 (incl. last blank), pp. [1-5] 6-33 [3] (18 leaves, 36 pages). Collation: 12mo; π1, a8, A-E12, [2]A-[2]I12 [2]K4, [3]A-[3]G12, [4]A-[4]E12 F8, [5]A-[5]D12 E4, [6]A12 [6]B6 (incl. last blank), total 403 leaves, 806 pages, in-text woodcut head- and tailpieces, and initials. Binding: 14.4 x 9 cm, 19th-century quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt-bordered compartments, gilt lettering, three flyleaves at the front and back, "The Robin Collection" bookplate to front pastedown. Provenance: The Robin Collection. Contributors: Torquato Tasso (Italian, 1544 –1595) – author. Orazio Ariosto (Italian, 1555 – 1593) – author. Ludovico Ariosto (Italian, 1474 – 1533) – author. Camillo Pellegrino (Italian, 1527-1603) – author. Francesco Osanna [Osana] (Italian, fl. 1549 – 1608) – printer, publisher.
  • Title-page: COLETTE | L'INGÉNUE | LIBERTINE | EAUX-FORTES DE DIGNIMONT | PARIS | A LA CITÉ DES LIVRES | — | MDCCCCXXVIII || Cover (front wrapper): Similar to t.p. but in red and black: COLETTE | L'INGÉNUE | LIBERTINE | EAUX-FORTES DE DIGNIMONT | PARIS | A LA CITÉ DES LIVRES | — | MDCCCCXXVIII || Description: French flapped wrapper in a red marbled double slipcase with lettered paper label to spine, 29.5 x 23 x 5.5 cm, in-4to, leaves 28 x 22.5 cm. Collation: π41 in wrapper, π2 blank, π3 h.t. / limitation, π4 t.p. / blank, 1-304, χ21 blank, χ2 in wrapper), plus 15 plates extraneous to collation, with tissue-guards, incl. frontispiece. Pagination: [8] [1] 2-237 [238] [6], ils. Plates: 15 etchings in sepia by André Dignimont. Enrichment: Additional full suite of 15 plates in sanguine. Limitation: Edition is limited to 215 copies, 150 of them printed on thick wove paper (Vélin de Hollande), numbered 41 – 190, with one additional suite of plates. This copy is № 168. Printed on October 14, 1928. Contributors: Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette [a.k.a. Colette] (French, 1873 – 1954) André Dignimont (French, 1891 – 1965) – artist. La cité des livres – publishers. R. Coulouma (Argenteuil, director H. Barthélemy) – printer, typography. Atelier de la Roseraie – printer, etchings.
  • Hand-coloured etching from the series Historische Denkwürdigkeiten für gemütliche Leser by an anonymous German artist, printed c. 1815.
  • Printed on-demand, pictorial softcover, 22.9 x 15.2 cm, front: MARTIN | VAN MAELE |{fac-simile il.}| AN ILLUSTRATED | BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CHECKLIST | S. A. PERRY ||, blurb to back, lettering to spine, pp.: [12] [1] 2-207 [3] (total 222 pages), 107 reproductions of van Maele illustrations, 94 items bibliographical description. Title-page: S. A. PERRY. | Martin Van Maele | An Illustrated Bibliographical Checklist | 2015 || in a double-fillet frame. Colophon: Made in the USA | Las Vegas, NV | 26 December 2021. Maurice François Alfred Martin van Maële [Martin van Maële] (French, 1863 – 1926).
  • [Choderlos de Laclos.] Les Liaisons dangereuses, lettres recueillies dans une société, et publiées pour l’instruction de quelques autres; par M. C*** de L*** / Ornées de 6 gravures d'après Devéria. — Londres: s.n., 1820. Description: two volumes, collated 12mo, 17.1 x 10.6 cm each, modern binding – recently bound in quarter brown calf with gilt lettering, fillets and black fleurons to spine over green marbled boards; bookplate to front pastedown in each volume: “Ex-Libris | F.-M. Caye”. Printed on laid paper, each volume is illustrated with a frontispiece and two plates engraved by various engravers after Achille Devéria under the direction of Ambroise Tardieu. Title-page: LES LIAISONS | DANGEREUSES, | LETTRES RECUEILLIES | DANS UNE SOCIÉTÉ, | ET PUBLIÉES POUR L’INSTRUCTION DE QUELQUES AUTRES. | PAR M. C*** DE L***. | {3 lines of citation from J.-J. Rousseau} | TOME PREMIER (TOME SECOND) | — | A LONDRES. | ~ | M.D.CCC.XX. || Collation: Vol. 1: π8 1-1412 156, total 182 leaves plus 3 engraved plates: frontispiece and opposite to pp. 37 and 338. Pagination: [1-5] 6-16, [1] 2-348, total 364 pages. Vol. 2: π2 16 2-1512 162, total 178 leaves plus 3 engraved plates: frontispiece and opposite to pp. 25 and 316. Pagination: [4] [1] 2-352, total 356 pages. Provenance: Caye, F.-M. Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (French, 1741 – 1803) – author. Achille Jacques-Jean-Marie Devéria (French, 1800 – 1857) – artist. Engravers: Ambroise Tardieu (French, 1788 – 1841) Jean Baptiste Touzé (French, fl. 1810 – 1830) Jean Jacques Frilley (French, 1797 – after 1850) Achille Lefèvre (French, 1798 – 1864) Jean Louis Toussaint Caron (French, 1790 – 1832)
  • In an owner’s quarter buckram cardboard folder with a vegetation diaper design, ms blue ink lettering to front: “Songes galantes | 12 dessins par | Margit Gaal” at the centre, “Arpad Rob Laszlo | à Paris | 1938” in the lower right corner. Loose sheets with the 1st leaf t.p. / table de planches, and then 12 leaves of lithograph plates. Title-page: SONGES GALANTES | 12 DESSINS PAR | MARGIT GAAL | ÉDITION PRIVÉE | PARIS 1920 ||, ms inscription in blue ink in the middle : “Collection par | Árpad Rob Laśzló | techn. d’avion | Paris 1937”. Limitation: Edition limited to 500 copies of which № 1-100 signed by the author. This is copy № 407. References: Dutel (1920-1970) № 1413 (published in 1921); Honesterotica (indicated the year of death as 1965, however, there is no proof). Contributors: Gaál, Margit (Hungarian, 1898 – 1920) – artist.  
  • Thin booklet in glossy pictorial wrappers, 29.8 x 24.7 cm, pp.: [1-4] 5-48, 24 leaves total, illustrated. Errata tipped in after the front wrapper. Title-page: Mirror | of the stage | The actor prints of | Kunisada | Ellis Tinios | The University Gallery Leeds || Colophon: Published in March 1996 for the exhibition Mirror of the Stage held at the University Gallery Leeds 24 April-30 May 1996. Introduction: "This book [exhibition catalogue] has been written as an introduction to nineteenth-century Japanese colour woodblock actor prints and to the achievements of the artist Kunisada in that field [as well as to accompany the exhibition of the same name]. It is divided into three sections. In the first, I examine four topics: the social and cultural milieu that gave rise to the production of prints as items of mass consumption; the aesthetic of the actor print; the economics of print production (including consideration of the numbers issued, the prices at which they were sold and their rates of survival); and the process by which prints were produced. The second section consists of sixteen colour plates with commentaries. In the final section, I survey Kunisada's career." Subject: Utagawa, Kunisada, — 1786-1864 — Exhibitions; Ukiyo-e — Exhibitions; Colour prints, Japanese — Edo period, 1600-1868 — Exhibitions. Contributors: Ellis Tinios Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Select illustrations (references in this collection):

    SVJP-0226.2016: Superb Edo pictures illustrating dances, 1858.

  • Softcover, in pictorial flapped wrappers, 28 x 21.6 cm, 21 entries, with colour illustrations. Catalogue # 10 of the sales exhibition on March 30 - April 6, 2005 in NY; pagination: [1-3] 4-50 [2], ils. Contributor: Sebastian Izzard
  • Description: Original pictorial wrappers, folio, unbound, in a double slipcase with gilt lettering to spine; pp. [4] [1-12] 13-204 [4], 53 folded leaves, 47 dry-point illustrations after Marcel Vertès. Limitation: Edition of 140 copies on Arches paper of which 20 copies (№ 1-20) enriched with one original drawing, one suite of plates incl. 5 cancels and 5 full-page prints; 105 copies (№ 21-125); 15 copies (№ I-XV) for collaborators of witch 5 enriched with an original drawing and a complete suite of plates. This is copy № 45, enriched with an A.L. signed by Claude Roger-Marx (Jewish- French, 1888 – 1977). Colophon: Printed on January 15, 1954 in Paris on a press of madame J.-G. Daragnès by Éditions Manuel Bruker. Catalogue raisonné: Vokaer № 57. Other titles: Daphnis and Chloe (en), Daphnis et Chloé (fr), Daphnis und Chloe (de), Dafnis y Cloe (es),  Gli amori pastorali di Dafni e Cloe (it). Other editions in this collection: LIB-2870.2021 and LIB-1926.2019. Contributors: Longus [Λόγγος] (Greek, 2nd century AD) – author Jacques Amyot (French, 1513 – 1593) – translator Paul Louis Courier (French, 1772 – 1825) – editor Marcel Vertès [Marcell Vértes] (Jewish-Hungarian-French, 1895 – 1961) – artist/illustrator Jean-Gabriel Daragnès (French, 1886 – 1950) – printer Manuel Bruker [Mendel Brucker] (Jewish-Hungarian-French, 1891 – 1979) – publisher Portrait of Jacques Amyot engraved by Nicolas de Larmessin I (French, 1632 – 1694) in this collection: Isaac Bullart. Academie des sciences et des arts / 2 volumes. — Amsterdam: Elzevier [i.e. Brussels: Foppens], 1682. [LIB-2676.2021]:
  • Artist: Utagawa Sadahide [歌川 貞秀], a.k.a. Gountei Sadahide [五雲亭 貞秀] (Japanese, 1807 – c. 1878-9). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Date-kiwame seal: 1831 (Tenpō 2). Size: Uchiwa-e, 298 x 232 mm. Pair of uncut fan prints (1) with the god of wind and (2) with the god of thunder meant to be pasted on two sides of a fan.
    Utagawa Sadahide, a.k.a. Gountei Sadahide . Pair of uncut fan prints (1) with the god of wind and (2) with the god of thunder. 1862 Utagawa Sadahide, a.k.a. Gountei Sadahide . Pair of uncut fan prints (1) with the god of wind and (2) with the god of thunder. 1862
  • Exterior: 4to, 27.3 x 18 cm, quarter black morocco over marbled boards, double gilt fillet border, spine with raised bands, compartments framed in gilt with gilt fleurons, black label lettered in gilt; marbled endpapers. Inscription to half-title in the bottom: no 411. Bookplate to front pastedown. Title-page: LES | PRISONS DE PARIS | HISTOIRE, TYPES, MŒURS, MYSTÈRES | PAR | MAURICE ALHOY ET LOUIS LURINE | ÉDITION ILLUSTRÉE. | {vignette} | PARIS — 1846 | PUBLIÉ PAR GUSTAVE HAVARD | 24, RUE DES MATHURINS-SAINT-JACQUES. || Printer: Lacrampe et Comp. Collation: 4to; π2 a4 1-684 χ2; total 280 leaves and 34 leaves of plates. Pagination: first and last leaves blank; [2 -h.t./imprint.] [2 - t.p./blank] [2 dedication/blank] [i intro] ii-vi, [1] 2-544 [2 - list of plates/advert.] [2 - contents/blank]; total 560 pages, plus 34 wood-engraved plates, incl. a frontispiece by Laisne after Bertall, and numerous in-text woodcuts. Provenance: Bookplate of Selim Hippolyte Ansart (French, 1829 – 1897), commissar of police in the Second Empire and shortly after (chef de la police municipaie ; chevalier du 13 août 1867; vingt-trois ans de service effectif). Authors: Philadelphe-Maurice Alhoy (French, 1802 – 1856) Louis Lurine (French, 1812 – 1860) Artists: Bertall [ Bertal; Charles Albert d’Arnoux (French, 1820 – 1882) Jules [Jean-Baptiste] David (French, 1808–1892) Charles-François Pinot (French, 1817 – 1879) Eustache Lorsay [French, Eugène Lampsonius] (1822 – 1871) Pierre Édouard Frère (French, 1819 – 1886) Charles-Édouard de Beaumont (French, 1819 – 1888) Engravers Laisné Adèle / Aglaé / Alfred (French, fl. 1835 – 1868) Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859) François Rouget (Belgian, c. 1825 – ?) Janet-Lange [Ange-Louis Janet] (French, 1815 – 1872) Jacques Adrien Lavieille (French, 1818 – 1862) Timms (French, fl. c. 1839 – 1865) Félix Leblanc (French, 1823 – ?) Émile Montigneul (French, fl. 1840 – 1850)  
  • Iron tsuba of a round form (maru-gata) pierced (sukashi) with two six-petal flowers at 6 and 12 o’clock and modified lozenges at 3 and 9 o’clock, and inlaid in brass (suemon-zōgan) with tendrils and flowers (chrysanthemum, cherry blossom, Chinese bellflower, paulownia); openings outlined with scalloped brass wire. The plate is slightly concave with traces of lacquer on the surface. Nakago-ana plugged with copper sekigane. Some elements of inlay missing. The rim with conspicuous tekkotsu, quite worn. Measurements:  Height 92.0 mm; Width 86.3 mm; thickness at seppa-dai 3.2 mm, at rim 4.2 mm. Time: Late Muromachi (1514 – 1573) or earlier.
  • Paperback, pictorial wrappers, 20.5 x 14 cm, pp.: [1-4] 5-271 [272 colophon]. Title-page: Я. С. Лурье | ИЗБРАННЫЕ СТАТЬИ | И ПИСЬМА | Санкт-Петербург 2011 || Contributors: Яков Соломонович Лурье (Russian-Jewish, 1921 — 1996) Варвара Гелиевна Вовина-Лебедева (Russian, b. 1961) Михаил Маркович Кром (Russian, b. 1966)
  • The book Münchhausen: eine Geschichte in Arabesken by Karl Leberecht Immermann was published in Düsseldorf by J. E. Shaub in 1838-1839.  Its Russian translation by the Yarkho brothers was published in 1931 and 1932 by Academia publishing in two volumes uniformly bound in full green cloth with embossed and gilt pictorial design to front cover and spine, 17.3 x 12.5 cm, pictorial endpapers, top margin red, and pictorial dust jacket. Vol. I: 8vo, [1]-398 (312 leaves, 10 plates within collation); pp.: [1-7] 8-624. Print run 5,000 copies. Title-page (red and black): КАРЛ ИММЕРМАН | Мюнхгаузен | История | в арабесках | перевод и примечания | Г. И. и Б. И. Ярхо | ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ | П. С. КОГАНА | I | {vignette} | ~ ACADEMIA ~ | МОСКВА ~ ЛЕНИНГРАД | 1931 || Frontispiece (red and black): СОКРОВИЩА | МИРОВОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ | КАРЛ ИММЕРМАН | МЮНХГАУЗЕН | {fleuron} | * | ~ ACADEMIA ~ | МОСКВА ~ ЛЕНИНГРАД | 1931 || Reverse title: KARL IMMERMANN | MÜNCHHAUSEN | Eine Geschichte in Arabesken | {…} | ИЛЛЮСТРАЦИИ, ТИТУЛ, | ТИСНЕНИЕ НА ПЕРЕПЛЕТЕ | И СУПЕРОБЛОЖКА ПО РИС. | ХУД. Д. И. МИТРОХИНА | {…} | Ленинградский Областлит № 64832. | Тир. 5.000—39 листов. Зак. 7167. | Государственная типография | “Ленинградская Правда”, | Ленинград. | Соц. 14. || Vol. 2: 8vo, [1] 398 ( 312 leaves, 14 plates within collation), pp.: [1-7] 8-622 [2 colophon/blank]. Print run 5,250 copies. Title-page (red and black): КАРЛ ИММЕРМАН | Мюнхгаузен | История | в арабесках | перевод и примечания | Б. И. и Г. И. Ярхо | II | {vignette} | ~ ACADEMIA ~ | МОСКВА ~ ЛЕНИНГРАД | 1932 || Frontispiece: СОКРОВИЩА | МИРОВОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ | КАРЛ ИММЕРМАН | МЮНХГАУЗЕН | {fleuron} | * | ~ ACADEMIA ~ | МОСКВА ~ ЛЕНИНГРАД | 1932 || Reverse title: KARL IMMERMANN | MUNCHHAUSEN | Eine Geschichte in Arabesken | {…} | Иллюстрации, титул, тиснение | на переплете | и суперобложка | по рис. худ. Д. И. Митрохина. Illustrations: Plates, title pages, faux-titles, head- and endpieces, design of covers and dust jackets after Dmitry Mitrokhin (Д. И. Митрохин). Catalogue raisonné: Крылов-Кичатова v.1: 451/2, v.2: 491. [LIB-2260.2019]. Contributors: Karl Leberecht Immermann (German, 1796 – 1840) – author. Григорий Исаакович Ярхо (Russian-Jewish, 1886 – 1954) – translator. Борис Исаакович Ярхо (Russian-Jewish,1889 – 1942) – translator. Пётр Семёнович Коган (Russian-Jewish, 1872 – 1932) – author/preface. Dmitry Mitrokhin [Дмитрий Исидорович Митрохин] (Russian, 1883 – 1973) – artist.  
  • Title: Modori Kago [戻駕] (Returning palanquin). The dance-drama Modori Kago Iro ni Aikata [戻駕色相肩] premiered in the 11th lunar month of 1788 at the Nakamuraza [中村座], within Sakurada Jisuke I's kaomise [顔見世] (faceshowing) program Tôzumô Hana no Edogata [唐相撲花江戸方]", which celebrated the homecoming to Edo, after two years' absence, of Nakamura Nakazō I, and was intended to show off his particular talents in the role of Jirosaku (in reality Ishikawa Goemon [石川 五右衛門]) [kabuki21]. The symbol on a green book cover is the informal crest of tokiwazu-bushi [常磐津節] shaped like a water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) lozenge. Artist signature 国盛画 (Kunimori ga) with red toshidama. According to Samuel L. Leiter’s Kabuki Encyclopedia (1979), p. 243: The palanquin bearers Nanpa no Jirosaku and Azuma no Yōshirō, who are bearing a palanquin with a courtesan's young handmaiden in it, stop to rest at Kyoto's Murasakino, and each dances his regional dance. Then they call the girl, who does a dance showing the visitors to the famous pleasure quarters, Yoshiwara and Shimabara. The two men recognize each other as Ishikawa Goemon and Masashiba Hisayoshi, sworn enemies, and engage in a fight. This number is the only remaining section of an annual "faceshowing” (kaomize) work with a plot based on the medieval chronicle called the Toikōki. The full-length piece was called Kara Sumō Hanaeda no Kata. It is one of the most famous tokiwazu pieces and preserves the old-style Kabuki flavour. Nakamura Nakazō I played Jirosaku and Matsumoto Kōshirō IV was Yoshiro in the first production. The handmaiden was Matsumoto Komesaburō (probably Matsumoto Komasaburō I, an unknown actor [SV]). According to Egenolf Gallery: This work was first performed in 1788 at the Edo Nakamura-za as the season’s first performance and featured Nakamura Nakazō, who returned to Edo after three years in Osaka. It was a dance with tokiwazu chanting and was designed for him to play the lead role. In the piece, two palanquin carriers, one from Osaka, another from Edo, and a passenger – a kamuro, (a young geisha-in-training) exchange stories about the pleasure quarters of Shimabara and Yoshiwara. The text of the chanting book is open next to her, carrying the title “Collection of Practicing” [稽古尽くし], on which the green bundle cover carries the crest of Tokiwazu School, matsu-kawa-bishi, diamond variety of pine bark and the artist’s signature. Tokiwazu is a type of jōruri, narrative music, and accompanies dancing on the kabuki stage. Ref.: Christie's 27 Mar 2006. Publisher: Maruya Jinpachi, seal Marujin (Marks: 12-029 | 294e) Single nanushi censor seal: Mura (Murata Sahei, 1842-46). Provenance: Circular seal of the collector Huguette Bérès to verso. Contributors: Utagawa Kunimori [歌川国盛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1818 – 1943) – artist. Maruya Jinpachi [丸屋甚八] (Japanese, fl. 1770 – 1842) – publisher. Other mentioned: Nakamura Nakazō I [中村仲蔵] (Japanese, 1736 – 1790); other names: Nakayama Kojūrō VI, Nakamura Ichijūrō, Nakayama Manzō – actor. Matsumoto Kōshirō IV [松本幸四郎] (Japanese, 1737 – 1802); other names: Omegawa Kyōjūrō; Ichikawa Komazō II, Ichikawa Somegorô I, Ichikawa Takejūrō ; Segawa Kinji; Segawa Kingo – actor. Sakurada Jisuke I [桜田治助] (Japanese, 1734 – 1806) – dramatist.